Why We Haven’t Posted About The Allegations Against Deshaun Watson

Blame me.

Shortly after Tony Buzbee’s first Instagram post about his client’s upcoming lawsuit against Deshaun Watson a couple of days ago, we had a post written. The initial draft was full of conspiracy theories (or odd coincidences), name-calling, and vitriol. It screamed that BRB was “Team Deshaun.” It said what many people were thinking at the time.

I was out of town with my family, and I wasn’t comfortable publishing something like that without giving it a thorough review. I decided BRB wouldn’t run it immediately. While part of that reluctance to publish was undoubtedly due to the ever-changing news cycle in which we dwell, a big part of it was me prioritizing time away from the site. This is no hero’s journey.

Every Texans fan knows what’s happened since then. The story has developed seemingly every hour. Two more lawsuits filed as of the time (Thursday night) I’m writing this post. One masseuse claiming Deshaun Watson assaulted her has turned into nine women alleging the Texans’ quarterback committed similar violations. The announcement of a press conference with the promise of disclosing additional damning information. The release of selected text message exchanges purported to be between Deshaun Watson and his accuser(s). What was dismissed by some as a singular, maladroit shakedown has multiplied in every magnitude.

The harsh reality is that, at this stage, nobody has any idea what’s true and what’s false. Taking one side or the other has the effect, intended or not, of diminishing or brushing off the discernible strengths of the other side’s argument. How you see the merits of Jane Doe v. Deshaun Watson is justified through whatever prism you wish to view the allegations, those who are making the accusations, and/or the person who is being accused.

Because of that fluid verisimilitude, I decided that we’re not going to speculate here. Nor will we excuse behavior. We’re not going to have an agenda. Frankly, the story is evolving faster than we can digest the information, so we’re not going to post updates every time something new comes out. We have the luxury of not having to do that. I’d rather err on the side of caution and due process than clicks.

The legal process, or the NFL’s version of it, will ultimately provide some sort of verdict. When that happens, we’ll post about it. Until then, we here at BRB will do what I’d encourage everyone reading this to do—listen and think.

Thank you for taking the time to read.